Hera
Hera was the queen of the gods and the goddess of motherhood, women and family. History Hera spent her childhood in her Titan father Cronos', stomach after she was born by Rhea, her Titan mother. Zeus, the youngest child, rescued her and her siblings by making Kronos throw up, and after the First Titan War (also known as the First Titanomachy) ended, she married him and became the Queen of the Gods. After accepting Zeus, Gaea gave Hera the golden apples of immortality as a wedding gift, which she placed in her garden at the western edge of the world. Hera employed the Hesperides, daughters of Atlas, to guard the tree, but as the nymphs would occasionally pluck an apple from the tree themselves, she also put a one hundred headed dragon named Ladon there as well. This orchard was later named The Garden of the Hesperides. Over time, Zeus was very unfaithful to her, and had many children with mortal women such as Perseus and Hercules. This, understandably, frustrated Hera to no end, and she devoted most of her time to keeping Zeus in sight, as well as making the lives of the mistresses and illegitimate children miserable. Her hatred is most evident in the story of Heracles, whom she tried to kill repetitively, and who later ended up as her son-in-law by her daughter Hebe. Hera gave birth to Hephaestus, god of fire and the forge, but when she saw his unsightly appearance, threw him from Olympus, crippling him forever. This act of cruelty haunted Hephaestus, and was a factor in his bitterness with life and the fact that he preferred to work away from his family in his many forges in active volcanoes. Later in life, Hephaestus gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by making her a magical throne which, when she sat on it, did not allow her to leave. The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go, but he repeatedly refused their pleas until Dionysus the god of wine and another son of Zeus, got him drunk and took him back to Olympus on the back of a mule. Hephaestus released Hera after being given Aphrodite, goddess of love, as his wife. When Eris, goddess of strife, threw the Apple of Discord into the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, bearing the inscription "for the fairest," Hera was one of the candidates to claim it. Paris, prince of Troy, was chosen to judge between the three most beautiful goddesses, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Hera offered Paris a reward if he chose her as the fairest, willing to give him rule over Europe and Asia. She lost however, to Aphrodite, because of the bribe the goddess of love had offered Paris (the love of the most beautiful woman in Greece, Helen). Hera engaged along with Athena on the Greek's side in the Trojan War in revenge against Paris for rejecting them. Personality Hera is a motherly goddess, likely because she is the goddess of women, marriage, and children. She is, however, very proud and jealous when provoked, insulted or shown unfaithfulness. When cross, even Zeus can be afraid of his wife. Hera carries great loathing for the illegitimate children and mistresses of Zeus, though for good reason as she is the goddess of marriage. Therefore, she is often portrayed as being extremely jealous of Zeus' mistresses and hates the other offspring. She is seen as often aware of Zeus' various affairs, many times thwarting them and tricking him into getting what she wants. Though perhaps her anger should be more keyed toward her husband, Hera seems to gain revenge by punishing the women involved as well as the children that result from his affairs, though this may be because Zeus is the more powerful than her. Appearance Hera had long dark hair and wore a simple white dress. She has brown eyes and she is tall, graceful and very beautiful. Capabilities Names *Aegophagus: By the Lacedaemonians. The goat-eater *Ammonia: In Elis Also Category:Navigation templates Category:Gods Category:Children of Cronus Category:Olympians Category:Immortals Category:Consort of Zeus